PoliticsElections 2016little house on the prairiemelissa gilbert

‘Little House On The Prairie’ Star Melissa Gilbert Officially Out Of Congressional Race

Health issues have led her to withdraw.
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By 

National Reporter, HuffPost

Melissa Gilbert, who played Laura Ingalls Wilder on the “Little House On The Prairie” TV show as a child and who launched a congressional bid last year, won’t be working under a big rotunda anytime soon.

On Monday, an election board in Michigan approved the removal of Gilbert’s name from ballots. The actress withdrew from the race in May for health reasons, yet still won the Democratic primary earlier this month because she ran unopposed.

Suzanna Skhreli, a Macomb County prosecutor, has replaced Gilbert in the race.

Republicans in the state contested the election board’s decision, arguing Gilbert hadn’t proved that her ailments would prevent her from taking office. Under a 1929 law, candidates can only withdraw if they move out of state or are “physically unfit” to continue campaigning.

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Melissa Gilbert, who withdrew from a U.S. congressional race earlier this year, speaks on April 22 in New York City. An election board said on Monday that the "Little House on the Prairie" star's name could be removed from ballots.
Monica Schipper via Getty Images

In a letter obtained by the Detroit Free Press, Jason Hanselman and Gary Gordon, lawyers representing the Michigan Republican Party, urged the election board to keep Gilbert on the ballot because she hadn’t “adequately proved that she would be physically unfit to serve in Congress.”

Gilbert experienced a string of accidents in 2012 that now require surgery, she told People Magazine in May after withdrawing from the race. She suffered a concussion during an appearance on “Dancing with the Stars,” and was also hurt when a house’s balcony fell on her head.

“I was standing under the back balcony talking to my kids and it detached from the house and it collapsed on my head,” she recalled. “I have numbness in my right hand, shooting pains in my right arm and numbness in my neck... my neurologists are sending me to a neurosurgeon because I need to have another spinal surgery.” 

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Before You Go

Latino Celebrities Explain Why They're With Hillary Clinton
America Ferrera(01 of11)
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The "Superstore" star wrote a blog post for The Huffington Post in April explaining why Clinton has long been her “kind of badass” and the kind of woman she’d like to share a bottle of wine. “Even before the Latino vote was crucial to elections, Hillary held the first ever White House convening on Hispanic youth as first lady," she wrote. "She’s fought for early childhood education so that a kid like me, growing up in the public school system, doesn’t fall behind before she even gets the chance to begin. She’s defended school lunch programs so that a kid like me, dependent on those programs for her mid-day meal, doesn’t sit distracted by hunger pangs as she tries to focus on her math problems." (credit:David Livingston via Getty Images)
Ricky Martin(02 of11)
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The Puerto Rican singer threw his support behind Clinton in December. "Our community has been continuously attacked by Donald Trump and other Republican presidential candidates," Martin told BuzzFeed. "A few months ago I raised my voice against Trump's hateful rhetoric and standing with me was Hillary Clinton. Time after time, Hillary has shown her commitment to the Latino community and that is why I'm proud to support her and to stand with her because ella está con nosotros y nuestras familias (because she is with us and our families)." At Clinton’s “She’s With US” fundraiser concert in June, Martin said he believed “Hillary Clinton will be the next president of the United States.” (credit:Jason LaVeris via Getty Images)
Dascha Polanco(03 of11)
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The Clinton campaign released a video in October which starred “Orange Is The New Black” actresses Uzo Aduba and Dascha Polanco who broke down why they’re throwing their support behind the Democratic candidate. "She's been in politics since before we were born," Polanco explained in Spanish. "She has experience. She is somebody who not only was a senator and secretary of state, but she's also a woman, a mother and a wife.” Polanco went on to encourage viewers to get informed and vote, “because it’s necessary.” (credit:Mike Pont via Getty Images)
Salma Hayek(04 of11)
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Salma Hayek is as vocal about her support for Clinton as she is about her distaste for Donald Trump. In October, the Mexican actress officially joined the “Latinos for Clinton” initiative, and also during that fall she told Latina Magazine she had a lot of hope for Clinton. “We need somebody with experience who can endure it all,” she explained. “Hillary is tough.” More recently, Hayek praised Clinton’s “grace” and potential in an interview with The Daily Beast in April. “She is levelheaded. She is kind. She has a heart. She’s human. She’s smart. But nothing brings her down. They’ve been trying to put this woman down for 30 years. She’s indestructible. She gets up with grace. And she gets things done with grace -- not bullying,” she told the digital publication in April. “And the thing is, she doesn’t oversell a fantastic dream,” added Hayek. “I think she tells you what she thinks can be done, and I think she will surprise us by doing much more than that. I think the things she’s saying aren’t only to catch votes. Everyone else is trying to catch the votes.” (credit:David M. Benett via Getty Images)
John Leguizamo(05 of11)
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John Leguizamo has long tweeted his support for Clinton. The actor often shows his support for Clinton on Twitter, retweeting her campaign and sharing articles written about her. In June, Leguizamo used the hashtag #ImWithHer to break down the many reasons, ranging from immigration to women’s health for why Clinton’s got his vote. "#ImWithHer #14. She created an office on violence against women at the department of justice 15. She worked to investigate gulf war disease," he tweeted at the time. (credit:Noam Galai via Getty Images)
Rosie Perez(06 of11)
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Puerto Rican actress and activist Rosie Perez thinks Clinton has put in her time and is ready for office. “I am with her because she has the record,” Perez shared in a video interview with NBC Latino. “She was secretary of state. She was a senator. She was first lady. She is a woman. She is a mother. And she is a grandmother. And she has the empathy to understand what people who do not have what they should have in this country are going through.” Perez also cited Clinton’s positions on immigration reform, equal pay for women and college tuition reform as reasons why she is with the former secretary of state. (credit:Desiree Navarro via Getty Images)
Demi Lovato(07 of11)
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Singer Demi Lovato expressed her confidence in Clinton during a campaign rally held at the University of Iowa in January. "I don’t think there is a woman more confident than Hillary Clinton,” Lovato told the cheering crowd. "I am voting for her because of her beliefs, her strength and the fact that she completely embodies the concept of women empowerment.” (credit:Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Gina Rodriguez(08 of11)
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In a video published by Clinton's campaign in February, Golden Globe-winner Gina Rodriguez explained she is with her "because she is fighting for immigration reform and fighting to keep our families together -- and that is the reason why, Latinos, we need to vote." The "Jane the Virgin" star was joined by 16 other female celebrities, including Lena Dunham, Shonda Rhimes, Constance Wu and Uzo Aduba, among others. (credit:Gregg DeGuire via Getty Images)
Constance Marie(09 of11)
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Constance Marie has a political crush on Clinton. The actress tweeted her support for Clinton using the hashtag #WCW (woman crush Wednesday), in May. “She is strong, She is smart, She is a fighter. I like Bernie but #ImWithHer#Unite#StopTrump,” Marie shared with her followers. (credit:David Livingston via Getty Images)
Michelle Rodriguez(10 of11)
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Michelle Rodriguez has said her “[first] time vote” is going to Clinton because “she's a fighter.” In March, Michelle Rodriguez shared her intention to vote for Clinton on Instagram, citing an address the then-first lady gave at the United Nations in Beijing. “[Her] words were powerful, and she didn't hold back,” Rodriguez wrote in the caption of the post. “After that moment women were recognized and regarded by the U.N. for the 1st time in its history as humans deserving of #HumanRights. It was her weight as 1st lady going all the way to China, risking international relations in the name of justice. Women from all over the world united for the 1st time ever at this scale in Beijing that year. South American, African, Middle Eastern, Chinese... I watched all of these women look to Hillary for Hope. I believe that her presence and the speech she gave as 1st lady carried a weight to it and affected the decisions made by all those male officials from UN when dealing with human rights & women. That's how I know she's a fighter. I like that virtue over everything else. So, I'm taking the leap of faith in the most sane candidate out of all of ‘em. #madeforhistory." (credit:ANTHONY WALLACE via Getty Images)
Eva Longoria(11 of11)
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Longoria has spoken out in support of Clinton on numerous occasions. “I stand with Hillary because I'm a Latina,” explained actress Eva Longoria during Clinton’s fundraising concert, held ahead of California’s primaries in June. “We care deeply about policies that disproportionately affect our community and one of those issues is immigration reform. We are tired of being synonymous with illegal, synonymous with not from here. We're part of the thread that makes the United States of America.” (credit:Kevin Winter via Getty Images)
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